Author: ssw15

Wednesday night – a rerun of the Jay Leno hanging out with the “Friends” post-series finale. Like, this just happened three weeks ago, and they’re already rerunning it? Eh?

A curiously interesting op-ed from NY Times’ William Safire – he’s advocating the end to the U.S. penny, because no one uses it, everyone loses it, and it’s useless. He says it’s only being continued because:

The answer, I think, has to do with zinc, which is what pennies are mostly made of; light copper plating turns them into red cents. The powerful, outsourcing zinc lobby — financed by Canadian mines as well as Alaskan — entices front groups to whip up a frenzy of save-the-penny mail to Congress when coin reform is proposed.

But when the penny is abolished, the nickel will boom. And what is a nickel made of? No, not the metallic element nickel; our 5-cent coin is mainly composed of copper. And where is most of America’s copper mined? Arizona. If Senator John McCain would get off President Bush’s back long enough to serve the economic interests of his Arizona constituents, we’d get some long-overdue coin reform.

What about Lincoln, who has had a century-long run on the penny? He’s still honored on the $5 bill, and will be as long as the dollar sign remains above the 4 on keyboards. If this threatens coin reformers with the loss of Illinois votes, put Abe on the dime and bump F.D.R.

Umm. Okay. Sure, Mr. Safire. Let’s see the penny really come to an end and go the way of the Indian-head coin.

Well, this was an interesting article in the NY Times on Ken Griffey, Jr., getting there as a star baseball player in his hometown team, Cincinnati Reds. One gets a flavor of his lavish lifestyle, frustrations with the slumps and injuries, and enjoyment at coming back (although he says he was never gone – understandably so – but he sort of was gone). Interesting…

All the stories in the news about the race horse Smarty Jones – it’s about to be horsey time in the NY area at Belmont Park on Saturday; will there be a Triple Crown??? Haven’t we had this story last year? Hmm. A Triple Crown remains to be seen.

What is not a rerun? – check out the strange Six Flags ads – Weird, Frail, Bald Old (WFBO) Man; family quibbling over when to spend quality time together; and then, cue the music; and WFBO Man is surprisingly able and energetic, dancing his way to lead everyone to Six Flags (Great Adventure in the East Coast USA). I got curious to figure out the music and went on-line – it’s “We Like to Party” by the Vengaboys. Ah. Knew it was too familiar. As the link above notes:

The surprisingly spry, bald-headed character featured in the television spots travels in a colorful retro style bus bringing his signature music – “We Like to Party” by the Vengaboys – and an irresistible invitation to leave the boredom, stress and pressures of everyday life behind, to families across America. He quickly has Dad dropping the rake, Mom putting down the garden hose, and Junior abandoning the lawn mower in an easy decision to take the short trip to Six Flags and a day filled with sheer enjoyment.

Okay. Yes, the music is great and catchy. But, I just think that WFBO Man looks a little scary. I can’t tell if he is actually WFBO or an actor with pretty good prosthetic make up. Anyway, check out the Six Flags website for the latest commercial. So goes life…

Uh hmm. Finished reading Entertainment Weekly – pretty good issue. I want so much to dislike anything about the new movie, “Day After Tomorrow” (anything depicting the destruction of my hometown has earned my ire of late the last couple of years), but there’s enough reporting that “Day After Tomorrow” is more cheese and camp than any attempt at Serious Moral Story ™ (I’m weary of listening to the director telling news folks that he’s hoping the movie would make us think more about global warming – there are other ways to do that than with a cheesy movie). I loved this odd paragraph in Entertainment Weekly’s article on “Day After Tomorrow”; writer Gillian Flynn notes:

[T]he film demands not just killer tornadoes and instafreeze hurricanes, not just a storm swell that swallows much of Manhattan, but [a] freighter busting down Fifth Avenue in the wake of a wave the size of the Statue of Liberty. And wolves – did we mention wolves? Their furry animatronic heads loll on a lunch table nearby for a scene in which Sam [played by actor Jake Gyllenhaal], after scrounging food and medicine from the ship, must outrun the pack back to his [NY Public Library] safe house.

Hehehe. Wolves. Hell, I didn’t even knew there were wolves in the five boroughs. Anyway, what is with this movie? If someone sees it, let me know – in the meantime, I’ll watch other stuff. I mean, I like cheesy movies as much as anyone, but disaster movies that are Really Ridiculous just… well, there are other movies out there to watch.

My e-mail inbox had the latest ABA E-Journal newsletter – and an article highlights a reality show where law graduates compete for a job in a (gasp!) law firm. Molly McDonough writes:

After all, as recent grads who passed the bar after April 2003, they are qualified to try out for the show. These would-be contestants are vying to be picked for mock trial teams of Ivy Leaguers versus graduates of lower-tier schools. And they are lured by the prospect of fame and a “major career opportunity.”

Fox announced last week that the program, developing under the working title The Legal Show, is scheduled to air on Sundays beginning in November. The “courtroom showdowns” will take place in front of a yet-to-be-revealed high-profile judge, real jurors (except for the pay) and a national television audience.

Few details have emerged about the show, such as which law firm or company would be willing to turn over a coveted legal job to a game-show contestant.

Career opportunity? From a reality show? And, what law firm is agreeing to be a part of this? (maybe they’ll get something out of this, but maintaining their good reputation is the hard part). Top tier vs. lower tier law schools? Good grief, now that’s just mean (watch the lower tier grads cream the higher tier ones with the skills they acquired from their law schools’ clinics; watch the higher tier kids’ get all arrogant about their higher tier schools; blah, blah, blah). Plus, any concern of embarrassment isn’t there: one law graduate/unemployed gentleman notes, “‘If we could survive law school, we could survive a reality show.’” Yeah, sure. Do we really have to present our profession to the lay people like this? I thought we’re trying to improve the perception of and appreciation for lawyers, not make us look sillier.

Cool stuff: analysis of how television affects or reflects society can be scholarly stuff, as seen in the upcoming conference of “Buffy”-ologists – academians who have analyzed implications of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and her universe (which would cover “Angel”). The Yahoo article links to the related website, which was also fascinating. And, yep, as I suspected, someone did get around to drafting a paper on how “Angel” depicts the Evil Law Firm as it violates codes of professional conduct. Too cool.

Enjoy the weekend. Here comes the unofficial beginning of summer (but I wish spring would stick around as long as it can).

This is just plain freaky. Saturday/Sunday was summery. Today is April weather – in the 50 to 60 degree range, partly cloudy/drizzly/increasingly overcast/expected hail/thunderstorm/etc. Huh? Where oh where is spring?

I got around to finally watching an entire “24” episode last night – wow, that’s quite a season finale. I kept thinking, “No way is Kiefer Sutherland going to do that. No way… Holy s—, he’s going to do it…”

Spoiler —

Kiefer as Federal Agent Jack Bauer is trying to stop germ warfare bomb from blowing up; but, his partner/protoge Chase is attached to the bomb – Chase locked the bomb onto his wrist to prevent the Nasty Villain from taking off with the bomb; poor Chase. Jack glances at the fire extinguisher/fire axe combo at the corner – and one wonders, No, Jack, no! Chase, though, is a Good American – tells Jack to do his duty. So, one gasps as Jack runs to break the glass to get the axe…

Somehow Jack saves the day, even if it means chopping someone’s wrist off. Chase, I think, will live and those snazzy doctors may be able to reattach his arm. But how many really crappy 24 hours can one agent have? Jack seems to have one almost every year.

I was generally squeamish about the biological terrorism storyline of this season’s “24” (enough to only follow it from commercials or TV Guide summaries) – but watching the last two episodes have been very impressive. “24” is pretty solid, even if it has some overwrought moments.

Slate.com’s Dahlia Lithwick – the woman’s one smart cookie and I so enjoy it when she writes Slate.com’s “Jurisprudence” column. Last week she did “Slippery Slope,” slamming the slippery slope argument against gay marriage (i.e., the argument that proposes that gay marriage paves the way to bestiality, incest, and other sins – as if any “sin” is very similar). Putting aside whether one is for or against gay marriage, one must reasonably expect proper development of legal argument – and slippery slope arguments are not exactly the best one, as law school has taught us, and I really liked how Lithwick nailed the argument as a specious one (if not, at least a boring argument).

This week, Lithwick analyzes why Justice Sandra Day O’Connor bemuses us – very interesting reading, as we continue the struggle to understand the justices in Supreme Court.

Interesting NY Times’ editorial – I always perk up a little when the Times does a human interest type of editorial: “Merry Times for Commoners.” The editorial board notes that this month has been the month of the weddings of the Crown Princes of Europe – Prince Frederik of Denmark marrying an Australian commoner; and this past weekend, Prince Felipe of Spain marrying a Spanish anchorwoman/commoner/divorcee. (sidenote: yep, on Saturday, even I was watching a little bit of the Felipe/Letizia wedding on Spanish TV – I don’t understand a word of Spanish, but I’m transfixed as anyone with a nice old-fashioned royal wedding; and, more yep, ladies – let us all bow our heads that the previously most eligible bachelors of royal Europe are no longer eligible). The editorial’s odd humor (odd, because I didn’t think this was really in the Times’ editorial bunch):

English tabloids would have enjoyed imagining that conversation over tapas in the royal palace, “Mom, Dad, there is something you need to know about Letizia. . . .” But this was Spain, not England, and the royal family is no subject for mockery.

Indeed, far from a national ornament, the father of the groom, King Juan Carlos, is widely admired for his forceful oversight of Spain’s transition to democracy. And though the ceremony was toned down in remembrance of the March 11 terrorist attacks in Madrid, it was watched by millions of former subjects throughout Latin America, whose fascination for Spanish royalty is not unlike Americans’ interest in the Windsor clan.

Above all, these May royal weddings are a tantalizing form of reality TV. It’s no longer about evoking fantasies of being born a prince or a princess. All aspiring contestants need to do is go out and woo one.

Umm hmm. The Times gettin’ with the times, I guess. Personally, I think royal weddings are better than so-called reality tv; we may not expect to marry ourselves to princes or princesses, but as national figures, they mean something (at least, to Spain or Denmark, they do).

Fantasia Barrino – the new American Idol. Too predictable; Diana Degarmo got weak there with two of her songs and so it was clear who would be the winner, short of America’s bad voting conduct. Ah, well. Congrats to the winner and the runner-up; So goes spring tv.

The title of today’s blog is something right out of today’s “Daily News” (NY’s hometown paper), wherein the resident tv critic David Bianculli highlights the reality of American television next fall (or already in effect) . Some commentary off the top of my head:

“Alias” – I had taped the season finale last night, but watched the last half hour, and still don’t get it. What the heck happened? Jack Bristow telling his daughter Secret Agent Sydney (paraphrasing): “I never meant this for you…” What?! And, ABC announced that the next season won’t be until January 2005?! What?! Being a lawyer, I can figure out the arguments about this decision –

Pro:
– ABC will show all 22 episodes without reruns interrupting, from January to May.
– By buying time for the writers, maybe the writers can write up some smoother and better storylines.

Con:
– We have to wait until January?!
– I personally don’t mind reruns – it’s a way to catch up on the episodes missed. I mean, I know that the age of DVD’s means no one has to watch reruns unless he/she wants to, but being slightly-behind-the-technological times, I seriously do not mind reruns and I ain’t going to get the DVD’s very soon anyway.
– We have to wait until January?!

The reports on the upcoming NBC sitcom/”Friends” spinoff, “Joey,” sound very positive. But, keep in mind – “Joey” is looking like the only new sitcom coming up this season. Eh? Are sitcoms doomed? All the media hype bemoaning sitcoms’ end – from Entertainment Weekly’s roundtable discussion to every tv critic column I came across. And, of course, the reality show dominance – the benefit of being cheap (no need to pay for writers; no hand-wringling over plots when it’s all a matter of throwing disparate personalities together; and no need to cast actual actors); easily made (cameras rolling…); and rendering every viewer a sucker by sucking him/her into the storylines/conflict/gameshow winner.

Watching the “Simpsons” last night would suggest that the sitcom isn’t completely doomed, or at least if you go by the NY Times’ article about it. Gosh, the article was spoilers galore about the episode, but analyzed how such a cartoon/sitcom is written out and utterly dedicated to the idea of making a viewer laugh – what a lot of so-called sitcoms don’t do enough of (say goodbye to “I’m with Her”; “Married to the Kellys,” and the Jim Belushi show (I think) – sadly all on ABC, a show once known for decently silly sitcoms like “Three’s Company” What is the state of ABC? I don’t know).

On the bright side, “Arrested Development” will be back – an absurd show which is “they can’t do that, but they did” kind of funny (which, considering the time slot, I could never watch but always wanted to). On the negative side: there’s a whole load of “The Swan” and other dregs on in the meantime.

I wonder if the networks are putting themselves in a position set for failure – glutting the market with reality stuff (quite honestly, my life is reality, so why do I have to watch others’ so-called reality? TV’s my escapism, hello, Mr. Network Executive) – and what will happen the ratings won’t be there? Will the pendulum go the other way, to give us watchable dramas and comedies again? If so, when? (no, really, I want to know, because crappy syndicated television is hardly satisfying me – am I so desparate for non-reality tv that I’d watch “Andromeda”? Apparently – and that was a pretty lousy episode last weekend). Hmm. No wonder why I’ve been watching so much PBS lately. (well, not the “Colonial House” stuff – I haven’t watched since “Victorian House” – anything else would be almost derivative…) … More hmm. [better stop before I start sounding like Marge Simpson…]

Saw the movie “Van Helsing” yesterday. I know that the reviews in the media have been mixed about it, but I thought it was all right. Don’t go see it expecting an Oscar award type of movie – it’s most certainly not. But, it’s a good popcorn movie (and I was certainly munching a bunch of that – spare the butter flavoring, save some calories) and even better to see it at matinee pricing (avoid paying the full price – it’s not that good a movie).

Hugh Jackman as Gabriel van Helsing, hunter of demons on the side of Good (well, apparently having allied himself with the Catholic Church which allied itself with Buddhists, Muslims, and others to stop monsters). Demonstrating some gravitas and moral virtues and sadness in his character, Jackman saved the movie from becoming a silly computer graphic animation (the movie, made by the guys who gave us “The Mummy” franchise – do they realize that they can only so much rely on the graphics?). Plus, it’s funny saying the name, “Van Helsing” with a fake Eastern European accent (say it three fast, and you’ll see what I mean). Richard Roxburgh, playing Dracula, had his over-acting moments (if you had seen his playing Sherlock Holmes in the latest version of “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” on Masterpiece Theatre as I have, you’ll know what I mean), but it’s all about Jackman. Plus I think there was the most accurate portrayal of the Frankenstein monster (as in, true to the original book version by Mary Shelley). David Wenham, the guy who played Faramir in two parts of the “Lord of the Rings,” was almost unrecognizable in this movie – a very skilled actor, I’ll say, to do a totally different character well. Oh, and Kate Beckinsale co-stars. Curious ending – almost daring. I won’t give it away, really – you’ll all have to see it for yourselves. But, it’s all about Jackman. Do I really have to say it again?

Last year, the horse Funny Cide tried real hard to get the Triple Crown of horse racing, but was stopped by the Belmont stakes. That odd horse of 2004 – Smarty Jones – (again) came from behind yesterday to beat out the not-so-great pool for the Preakness – and, like Funny Cide last year, will try for the Triple Crown at Belmont. Hmm. Funny how this time of year makes me think that I like the horsies.

“The Practice” series finale tonight – salute to the firm of Donnell, Young, Frut, and Berluti for having tried real hard for the past several years to give us decent tv/non-reality stuff to watch.

Enjoy the nice weather in NYC today. I could have sworn we were in the middle of spring.

Wednesday’s “Angel” – crazy stuff indeed. I swear, Angel’s whole free will thing is amazingly impressive. That’s always been his theme, and he’ll stick to it, thank you very much.

“Frasier” – umm… okay. It was all right. I’m not a big “Frasier” fan, and haven’t watched it at all this season (any storylines I have followed have been entirely due to NBC’s commercials or from TV Guide), but the series finale was all right.

More APA stuff: check out NY1’s series of articles/news stories about APA’s in the five boroughs; it ain’t just your grandpa’s Chinatown anymore (well, certainly not my grandfather’s, to be more precise).

More series and season finales tomorrow, and the weekend. So it goes.

Tiresome. Should have gotten more sleep this weekend (not like I did very much), so then today wouldn’t have felt so tired.

So… some comments on “The Last One” of “Friends,” because I’m assuming that enough people have seen it by now. If you don’t want to be spoiled by any spoiler, just close your eyes and scroll down.

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spoiler/spoiler/spoiler/open your eyes if you dare….
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As Chandler would say, could it have been any less predictable? But, all in all, a harmless, warm, fuzzy episode that gave a lot of closure. I’d quibble that Rachel, the one character with a lot of character growth in the past ten years (going from dentist’s-ex-runaway bride to fashion industry career girl) settles for the one guy who has pined for her all this time, but it’s a sitcom – we’re meant to be kept happy, and I suppose that there is nothing wrong with that. But, it was such a constructed sense of tension – it wasn’t as if Ross really was losing Rachel; they (momentarily) forget that they’ve a child together and it wasn’t as if they were having a permanent goodbye to each other as a result. And, where was Ross and Rachel’s child in this last episode? Or any mention of Ross’ other child? Kids get shafted in this series, I must say. (Monica and Chandler’s offspring had an appropriate amount of attention – considering that they’ve a hyper-responsible parent like Monica, maybe that’s unsurprising).

Even the foosball machine gets a goodbye – must they say goodbye to everything and anything? The cute thing: the new chick and duck. Aww, so cute.

Otherwise, good closure. Back to reruns to catch up on the last five years of “Friends” that I missed out on anyway…

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spoiler over.

And, what about “Survivor: All Stars”? Hmm. Jeff Probst’s arrival at Madison Square Garden from the helicopter – weird, silly scene (“So, you’re risking life and limb by standing on the side of the chopper, Probst?” My brother and I chortled if Mark Burnett, producer of “Survivor” and “The Apprentice” got a hold of Trump’s helicopter just for Probst). Boston Rob – only a runner up. Hehe – wearing that Bosox cap must’ve been spread that Bosox karma. And, Amber? Ok; so she won. But, that… engagement? Well… I think I’ll leave my comments at that. For some reason, I just can’t quite think of something really remarkable considering to say. It was just one odd season finale, and I haven’t been particularly good about following the series this season.

A belated article to link, but appropriate in honor of Asian Heritage Month (in May, but as I’ve noted, my alma mater celebrates it in April to avoid conflict with final exams) – but I had mentioned this article to my sister the other day, and so I figured I’d mention it here: ever wonder where General Tso’s chicken comes from and where would one get the best kind (in the Morningside Heights area anyway)? Note what this undergraduate says, from my alma mater’s newspaper. I’m more of a sesame chicken person myself.

Slate.com has this not-that-regular feature on commenting on other web sites; in the latest edition, Bryan Curtis writes on athletes’ blogs. Personally, I had no idea that Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants had a blog on his website; I wouldn’t even think that athletes, like most celebrities, are very interesting in their blogs (well, maybe none of us are interesting; perhaps I should say that I fear that the athletes or celebrities are more interested in self-promotion in their blogs). Scrolling down, I find out that there’s this thing called “City ‘blog maps’”. Curiously interesting – a way to look for blogs on a website organized by… transit maps? Ok. There’s no way to see if these are interesting blogs, but curious to see how the Internet can organize itself “geographically.”

The end of “Frasier” on Thursday – set your VCR’s again, folks… Otherwise, enjoy the week.